And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another. All here predicted was with dreadful literality fulfilled, and the providence which has preserved such a remarkable commentary on it as the record of Josephus-an eye-witness from first to last, a Jew of distinguished eminence, an officer of high military capacity in the Jewish army, and when taken prisoner living in the Roman camp, and acting once and again as a negotiator between the contending parties-cannot be too devoutly acknowledged.
Our Evangelist gives no record of the first day's proceedings in Jerusalem, after the triumphal Entry; for what follows (Luke 19:45-48) belongs to the second and subsequent days. Mark disposes of this in a single verse (Luke 11:11), while in the Fourth Gospel there is nothing on the subject. But in Matthew 21:10-11; Matthew 21:14-16, we have the following precious particulars:
THE STIR ABOUT HIM IN THE CITY (Matthew 21:10-11)
Matthew 21:10. "And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved" - as the cavalcade advanced - "Saying, Who is this? Matthew 21:11. And the multitude" - rather 'the multitudes' х hoi (G3588) ochloi (G3793)] from the procession itself - "said, This is Jesus, the prophet of," or 'from' - х ho (G3588) apo (G575)] "Nazareth of Galiee." By this they evidently meant something more than a mere prophet; and from John 6:14-15, and this whole scene, it seems plain that they meant by this exclamation that it was the expected Messiah.
MIRACLES WROUGHT IN THE TEMPLE (Matthew 21:14)
Matthew 21:14. "And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple" х en (G1722) too (G3588) hieroo (G2411)] - in the large sense of that word (see the note at Luke 2:27), "and He healed them." If these miracles were performed after the cleansing of the temple-as one would gather from Matthew-since they were performed in the very temple-court from which the money changers had been cleared out-they would set a divine seal on that act of mysterious authority. But as the second Gospel is peculiarly precise as to the order of these events, we incline to follow it, in placing the cleansing of the Temple on the second day. Yet these miracles performed in the temple on the lame and the blind are most touching, as the last recorded miraculous displays of His glory-with the single exception of the majestic Cleansing of the Temple-which He gave in public.
GLORIOUS VINDICATION OF THE CHILDREN'S TESTIMONY (Matthew 21:15-16)
Matthew 21:15. "And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things which he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David" - which was just the prolonged echo of the popular acclamations on His triumphal entry, but drawn forth anew from these children, on witnessing what doubtless filled their unsophisticated minds with wonder and admiration - "they were sore displeased. Matthew 21:16. And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say?" - stung most of all by this novel testimony to Jesus, as showing to what depths His popularity was reaching down, and from the mysterious effect of such voices upon the human spirit. "And Jesus saith unto them, Have ye never read (in Psalms 8:2) Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?" This beautiful psalm is repeatedly referred to as prophetic of Christ, and this is the view of it which a sound interpretation of it will be found to yield. The testimony which it predicts that Messiah would receive from "babes" - a very remarkable feature of this prophetic psalm-was indeed here literally fulfilled, as was that of His being "numbered with the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12), and "pierced" (Zechariah 12:10); but like those and similar predictions, it reaches deeper than literal babes, even the "babes" to whom are revealed the mysteries of the Gospel. See the note at Matthew 11:25.
Thus, it would seem, ended the first memorable day of the Redeemer's last week in Jerusalem. Of the close of it the following is the brief account of the First and Second Gospels, which we combine into one: "And He left them; and when now the eventide was come, He went out of the city into Bethany, with the Twelve, and he lodged there" (Matthew 21:17; Mark 11:11).
Before proceeding to the Remarks which this grand scene suggests, let us first retrace it. And here we copy entire the most graphic and beautiful description of it which we have read, by one of the most recent travelers, whose minute and patient accuracy is only equalled by his rare faculty of word-painting. 'From Bethany,' says Dr. Stanley, 'we must begin. A wild mountain-hamlet screened by an intervening ridge from the view of the top of Olivet, perched on its broken plateau of rock, the last collection of human habitations before the desert hills which reach to Jericho-this is the modern village of El-Lazarieh, which derives its name from its clustering round the traditional site of the one house and grave which give it an undying interest. High in the distance are the Peraean mountains; the foreground is the deep descent to the Jordan valley. On the further side of that dark abyss Martha and Mary knew that Christ was abiding when they sent their messenger; up that long ascent they had often watched His approach-up that long ascent He came, when, outside the village, Martha and Mary met Him, and the Jews stood round weeping.
Up that same ascent He came also at the beginning of the week of His Passion. One night He halted in the village, as of old; the village and the Desert were then all alive,-as they still are once every year at the Greek Easter-with the crowd of Paschal pilgrims moving to and fro between Bethany and Jerusalem. In the morning He set forth on His journey. Three pathways lead, and probably always led, from Bethany to Jerusalem; one, a steep footpath from the summit of Mount Olivet; another, by a long circuit over its northern shoulder, down the valley which parts it from Scopus; the third, the natural continuation of the road by which mounted travelers always approach the city from Jericho, over the southern shoulder, between the summit which contains the Tombs of the Prophets and that called the 'Mount of Offence.' There can be no doubt that this last is the road of the Entry of Christ, not only because, as just stated, it is and must always have been the usual approach for horsemen and for large caravans, such as then were concerned, but also because this is the only one of the three approaches which meets the requirements of the narrative which follows.
Two vast streams of people met on that day. The one poured out from the city (John 12:12); and as they came through the gardens [Dr. Stanley here would read, ek (G1537) toon (G3588) agroon (G68), with Tischendorf and Tregelles-but not Lachmann-instead of dendroon (G1186), of the Received Text], whose clusters of palm rose on the southeastern corner of Olivet, they cut down the long branches, as was their wont at the Feast of Tabernacles, and moved upwards toward Bethany, with loud shouts of welcome. From Bethany streamed forth the crowds who had assembled there on the previous night, and who came testifying (John 12:17) to the great event at the sepulchre of Lazarus. The road soon loses sight of Bethany. It is now a rough, but still broad and well-defined mountain track, winding over rock and loose stones; a steep declivity below on the left; the sloping shoulder of Olivet above it on the right; fig-trees below and above, here and there growing out of the rocky soil.
Along the road the multitudes threw down the branches which they cut as they went along, or spread out a rude matting formed of the palm-branches they had already cut as they came out. The larger portion-those, perhaps, who escorted Him from Bethany-unwrapped their loose cloaks from their shoulders, and stretched them along the rough path, to form a momentary carpet as He approached. (Matthew 21:8; Mark 11:8.) The two streams met midway. Half of the vast mass, turning round, preceded; the other half followed (Mark 11:9). Gradually the long procession swept up and over the ridge, where first begins "the descent of the Mount of Olives" toward Jerusalem. At this point the first view is caught of the southeastern corner of the city. The Temple and the more northern portions are hid by the slope of Olivet on the right; what is seen is only Mount Zion, now for the most part a rough field, crowned with the Mosque of David and the angle of the western walls, but then covered with houses to its base, surmounted by the Castle of Herod, on the supposed site of the palace of David, from which that portion of Jerusalem emphatically the "city of David" derived its name.
It was at this precise point, "As He drew near, at the descent of the mount of Olives" - that is, at the point where the road over the mount begins to descend (may it have been from the sight thus opening upon them?) - that the shout of triumph burst forth from the multitude, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the kingdom that cometh of our father David. Hosanna ... peace ... glory in the higher." There was a pause as the shout rang through the long defile; and, as the Pharisees who stood by in the crowd (Luke 19:39) complained, He pointed to the stones which, strewn beneath their feet, would immediately cry out, if "these were to hold their peace." Again the procession advanced. The road descends a slight declivity, and the glimpse of the city is again withdrawn behind the intervening ridge of Olivet. A few moments, and the path mounts again, it climbs a rugged ascent, it reaches a ledge of smooth rock, and in an instant the whole city bursts into view.
As now the dome of the Mosque El-Aksa rises like a ghost from the earth before the traveler stands on the ledge, so then must have risen the Temple tower; as now the vast enclosure of the Mussulman sanctuary, so then must have spread the Temple courts; as now the gray town on its broken hills, so then the magnificent city, with its background-long since vanished away-of gardens and suburbs on the western plateau behind. Immediately below was the Valley of the Kedron, here seen in its greatest depth as it joins the Valley of Hinnom, and thus giving full effect to the great peculiarity of Jerusalem, seen only on its eastern side-its situation as of a city rising out of a deep abyss. It is hardly possible to doubt that this rise and turn of the road-this rocky ledge-was the exact point where the multitude paused again, and "He, when He beheld the city, wept over it."' ("Sinai and Palestine," chapter 3:)
Remarks:
(1) Often as we have had occasion to observe how unlike the Gospel History is, in almost everything, to an (1) Often as we have had occasion to observe how unlike the Gospel History is, in almost everything, to an invented Story, it is impossible not to be struck with it in the present section. That our Lord should at some time or other be made to enter Jerusalem in triumph, would be no surprising invention, considering the claim to be King of the Jews which the whole Narrative makes for Him. But that He should enter it on a donkey, and that an unbroken foal attended by its dam; that it should be found by the two who were sent for it precisely "by the door without, in a place where two ways met," and that they should be allowed to carry it away on simply telling the owners that "the Lord had need of it;" that notwithstanding this feeblest of all assumptions of royal state, the small following should grow to the proportions of a vast state-procession, covering His path with their garments as He drew near to the city; and that, aided by the flying reports of Lazarus' resurrection, the multitude should get into such enthusiasm as to hail Him, in terms the most august and sacred which the Jewish Scriptures could furnish, as the long-promised and expected Messiah; that instead of being elated with this, He should at the sight of the city and in the midst of the popular acclamations, dissolve into tears, and that not so much at the prospect of His own approaching sufferings, as at the blindness of the nation to its own true interests; and yet, on the other hand should feel those acclamations so grateful and befitting, as to tell those irritated ecclesiastics who found fault with them that they behoved to be uttered, and if withheld by human lips, the predicted welcome of Jerusalem to its King would be wrung out of the very stones; that the whole of this should be a mystery to the Twelve, at the time of its occurrence, and that not until the resurrection and glorification of Jesus, when the Spirit shed down at Pentecost lighted up all these events, did they comprehend their significance and behold the Grand Unity of this matchless life; that after He had reached Jerusalem, and was among the temple-buildings, the echoes of the popular acclaim to Him should be caught up by the children in so marked and emphatic a style as to deepen the ecclesiastic hate, and call forth a demand to Him to stop it, which only rebounded upon themselves by the glorious Scriptural vindication of it which He gave them: these are circumstances so very different from anything which could be supposed to be an invention, especially when taken together, that no unsophisticated mind can believe it possible.
And as the first three narratives can be shown to be independent productions, and yet each-while agreeing in the main with all the rest-varies in minute and important details from the others, and only out of all Four can the full account of the whole transaction be obtained, have we not in this the most convincing evidence of the historic reality of what we read? No wonder that myriads of readers and hearers of these wondrous Narratives over all Christendom-of the educated classes as well as the common people-drink them in as indubitable and living History, without the need of any laboured arguments to prove them true!
(2) The blended meekness and majesty of this last entry into Jerusalem is but one of a series of contrasts, studding this matchless History, and attracting the wonder of every devout and intelligent reader. What, indeed, is this whole History but a continued meeting of Lord and Servant, of riches and poverty, of strength and weakness, of glory and shame, of life and death? The early fathers of the Church delighted to trace these stupendous contrasts in the life of Christ, arising out of the two natures in His mysterious Person-in the one of which He was to humble Himself to the uttermost, while the glory of the other could never be kept from breaking through it. Infested as those early Fathers of the Church were with all manner of heresies on this subject, these facts of the Gospel History formed at once the rich nourishment of their own souls, and the ready armoury whence they drew the weapons of their warfare in defense and illustration of the truth.
Hear, for example, how the eloquent Greek, Gregory of Nazianzum (born 300 AD-died, 390 AD), regales himself and his audience in one of his discourses, kindling at the assaults to which the Person of his Lord was subjected: 'He was wrapt, indeed, in swaddling clothes; but rising, He burst the wrappings of the tomb. He lay, it is true, in a manger; but He was glorified by angels, and pointed out by a star, and worshipped by Magi. Why do you stumble at the visible [in Him], not regarding the invisible? He had no form nor comeliness to the Jews; but to David He was fairer than the children of men yea, He glisters on the Mount, with a light above the brightness of the sun, foreshadowing the glory to come. He was baptized, indeed, as man, but He washed away sins as God; not that He needed purification, but that He might sanctify the waters. He was tempted as man, but He overcame as God; nay, He bids us be of good cheer, because He hath overcome the world.
He hungered, but He fed thousands; yea, He is Himself the living and Heavenly Bread. He thirsted, but He cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink; nay, He promised that those who believe in Him should themselves gush like a well. He was weary, but He is Himself the Rest of the weary and heavy-laden. He was overpowered with sleep; but He is upborne upon the sea, but He rebukes the winds, but He upbears sinking Peter. He pays tribute, but out of a fish; but He is the Prince of dependents. He is saluted "Samaritan," and "Demoniac," but He saves him that went down from Jerusalem and fell among thieves; nay, devils own Him, devils flee before Him, legions of spirits He whelms in the deep, and sees the prince of the devils falling as lightning. He is stoned, but not laid hold of; He prays, but He hears prayer. He weeps, but He puts an end to weeping. He inquires where Lazarus is laid, because He was man, but He raises Lazarus, because He was diety. He is sold, and at a contemptible rate, even thirty pieces of silver; but He ransoms the world, and at a great price, even His own blood." After carrying these contrasts down to the Judgment, the eloquent preacher apologizes for the artificial style in which he had indulged, to meet the arts of the adversaries (Orat. xxxv).
(3) Often as we have had occasion to notice the mysterious light and shade which marked the emotions of the Redeemer's soul (as in Matthew 11:16-30), nowhere are these more vividly revealed than in the present section. The acclamations of the multitude as He approached Jerusalem were indeed shallow enough, and He was not deceived by them. He had taken their measure, and knew their exact value. But they were the truth, and the truth uttered for the first time by a multitude of voices. "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord? Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!" His soul, from its inmost depths, echoed to the sound. It was to Him as the sound of many waters. When the Pharisees, therefore, bade Him rebuke it-for it was as wormwood to them-He rose to a sublime pitch at the very thought, and, in words which revealed the intense complacency with which He drank in the vast acclaim, "He answered and said unto them, I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out!" Yet, scarcely has this utterance died away from His lips, when, on the City coming into view, He is in tears! What emotions they were which drew the water from those eyes, we shall do better to try to conceive than attempt to express. We do desire to look into them; yet, on such a subject, at least, we say with the poet --
`But peace-still voice and closed eye Suit best with hearts beyond the sky.'
Our object in here again alluding to it, is merely to note the impressive fact, that this deep shade came over the Redeemer's spirit almost immediately after the light with which the acclamations of the multitude seemed to irradiate His soul.
(4) If Christ thus felt on earth the willful blindness of men to the things that belong to their peace, shall He feel it less in heaven? The tears doubtless are not there; but can that which wrung them from His eyes be absent? The mental pain which the spectacle occasioned Him on earth is certainly a stranger to His bosom now; but I, for one, shall never believe that there is nothing at all there which a benevolent heart would feel on earth to see men rushing willfully on their own destruction. Is it said of the Father, that He "spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all"? (see the note at Romans 8:32). And what is immediately to our point, Does God Himself protest to us, "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live"? (Ezekiel 33:11). In a word, Is there "joy in the presence," indeed, but not exclusively on the part, "of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth" - the joy properly of the Shepherd Himself over His recovered sheep, of the Owner Himself over His found property, of the Father Himself over His prodigal son forever restored to Him? (see the note at Luke 15:1-32) - and can it be doubted that in the bosom of Him who descended to ransom and went up to gather lost souls, as He watches from His seat in the heavens the treatment which His Gospel receives on earth, while the cordial acceptance of it awakens His deepest joy, the willful rejection of it, the whole consequences of which He only knows, must go to His heart with equal acuteness-though beyond that we may not describe it? And who that reads this can fail to see in it an argument of unspeakable force for immediate flight to Jesus on the part of all who until now have held out? You take such matters easy, perhaps; but Christ did not-nor will you one day.
(5) What a beautiful light does Christ's complacency in the Hosannas of the children throw upon His delight in drawing the young to Him! And what Christian parent will not deem himself, or herself, honoured with a rare honour whose children's voices, trained by them to sing Hosannas to the Son of David, send up into the soul of the now glorified Redeemer a wave of delight? See the notes at Luke 18:15-17, with the Remarks at the close of that section.
That there was but one cleansing of the temple-either that recorded in the Fourth Gospel, at His first visit to Jerusalem and His first Passover, or that recorded in the other three Gospels, at His last visit to it at the time of the Passover-some critics have endeavoured to make out; but all they have to allege for this is the supposed improbability of two such similar and unusual occurrences, and the fact that while each of the Evangelists records one cleansing, none of them records two. The Evangelists do indeed differ from each other considerably as to the order in which they place certain events; but if a cleansing of the temple occurred at the outset of our Lord's ministry-as recorded by John, who ought certainly to know the fact-and if it was never afterward repeated, it cannot be believed that all the other Evangelists, whose Gospels may be shown to have been written independently of each other, should agree in transferring it to the very close of His ministry.
Accordingly, most, if not all the Fathers recognized two cleansings of the temple-the one at the outset, the other at the close of our Lord's public life: and with them agree nearly all the best modern critics, Calvin, Grotius, Lampe, Tholuck, Olshausen, Ebrard, Meyer, Stier, Alford; compared with whom, those who regard both as one, though acute and learned critics, are, on a question of this nature, of inferior weight, Wetstein, Pearce, Priestley, Neander, DeWette, Lucke. Lange once took the latter view, but now contends decidedly for the double cleansing. That our Lord should put forth His authority in this remarkable way at His first visit to the city and temple, and so command attention to His claims from the highest authorities at the very outset, was altogether natural and appropriate. And that He should reassert it when He came to the city and temple for the last time, when the echoes of the popular acclaim to Him as the Son of David had scarce died away, but were about to be followed by cries of a very different nature, and His life was to pay the penalty of those claims-that in these circumstances He should vindicate them once more was surely in the highest degree natural. Nor are there wanting in the narratives of the two cleansings, evidences of a progress in the state of things from the time of the first to that of the last, which corroborates the fact of the deed being repeated. (See the notes at John 2:13-22, Remark 1, at the close of that section.)